There’s an old joke that states, “You Must Be An ER Nurse/Doc if…” and one of the statements is, “You have ever wanted to hold a seminar entitled ‘Suicide: Getting It Right.”

My unit has seen three (Yes, THREE) patients who were admitted because of failed suicide attempts this week ALONE. All of them ended up intubated on ventilators. All of them will live, although one of them is seriously maimed for life. All three took pills. The one who is maimed also drank toilet bowl cleaner. Then vomited it back up! Do you know what’s in some toilet bowl cleaners? Hydrochloric acid. Acid going down your esophagus, and then back up again. The esophagus and stomach lining have several layers. The patient managed to burn through every single layer, save the very outer one. What’s left is bleeding diffusely. It will probably eventually perforate, and he will become septic and die, or he’ll have to have an esophagogastrectomy, which means that his esophagus and stomach will be removed and he will need to be fed either through a tube in the small intestine, or will be on TPN for the rest of his life. TPN is food and nutrients/vitamins/glucose that is infused into a large vein.

Even a drug that is considered mostly harmless such as Tylenol can cause serious liver failure when too much is taken. I think some people think they can OD on Tylenol for their little plea for attention and get a big shock when they turn yellow from liver failure or need dialysis for kidney failure.

Now, I’m not advocating that people commit suicide. Not in the least. The purpose of this post is to inform anyone searching the internet for how to kill themselves that if you don’t die, you’ll either recover, or you’ll seriously and irreparably damage vital organs. You might actually live through your attempt, but life as you know it will be altered beyond your wildest dreams nightmares. I’m fairly sure that patient #3 was not thinking about how he would survive his suicide attempt, eventually lose his esophagus and stomach, yet have to live without those very important pieces of his body when he was drinking acid.

But how I wish that he had.

Comments

Dying from Tylenol OD is long and painful. People think they will just go to sleep and never wake up, but they are wrong. It slowly destrys the liver over many weeks and you slowly deteriorate, end up on dialysis, and eventually die from organ failure. By that time, you are usually very sorry you attempted suicide, but its too late.

Hear, hear! So many people waste our time with failed suicide attempts. Many do it over and over repeatedly. It’s our job to save your life and we’ll give it our best but all the time we’re wondering “why the f*** can’t they do it right the first time?”. http://ghetropolitan.tripod.com

Hear, hear! So many people waste our time with failed suicide attempts. Many do it over and over repeatedly. It’s our job to save your life and we’ll give it our best but all the time we’re wondering “why the f*** can’t they do it right the first time?”. http://ghetropolitan.tripod.com

My DH, who is a medic, has had his full share of Baker Acts/suicide attempts this week. Must be the whole sun-Venus-thing..somethings’s strange, and it’s not a full moon! First read through of your blog tonight!

It just breaks my heart that a person gets to that stage where they want to take their own life. I have been down that road myself. Then, a couple of years ago, a boy at my school took his life. I didn’t even know him, but the impact of his death on the school community, and on me, was so great that I have never ever ever taken that road again. I thought of the impact of his death on me, someone who didn’t know him, and imagined how hard the death would be on other people who did know me! Someone once said to me, “Suicide is not an solution, it is an end before a solution can be found”

To my way of thinking acetaminophen is one of the most dangerous drugs on the market. The therapeutic index (how much you take Vs when it damages your body organs) is very small. If I had my way I would probably make it a scheduled medication, a four or five perhaps. I

I worked as a hospital security officer for over 30 years. I have seen a lot of people that attempted suicide.
The young woman that drank industral Draino well that was a bad one. The EMTs that came in had burns from flushing her and the ER staff got it on them and got some burns. The woman had a wonderful family. She was on leave from a mental unit and they were having a BarB-Q in the back yard and she went down to the basement and drank it. She did die but not right away. I saw her up in ICU suctioning herself.
I agree with comments about Tyleno. Funny I would be in ER and the patient or the family would be happy that the person had not died and the Tyleno level had come back and I knew the person was going to be messed up big time for the rest of their life.
I hated the guys, most of all, that would try and kill themself to get their girl friend or wife to stay and not leave them..
Also people do not understand..when you make an attempt and end up in the ER you have not rights..They are going to treat you and you can fight and yell your going to sue and your going to get that tube down you.
I took retirement in November of 1999. I do not miss working hospital security. I do miss the people that I worked with..The ER and ICU staff..are heros..also to see someone do that sort of work day in and day out and to seem they with tears in their eyes or crying..Well it makes you know that there are still very special people in the world today.

Hi…I’ve been searching for awhile on on tylenol PM OD.and i need to know what the proper dosing is,I was suicidal for a few months..and i would off and on take handfulls of Tylenol PM.It got to be i was taking anywhere from 15 to 23 a night…Every single night,And i started suffering some side effects,Weight loss…horrible headaches,shaking my heart rate dropping and speeding,throwing up..sometimes blood…And Now reading the board,I am worried.Im only 18 and i haven’t gone to the doctors yet for i feel i will be okay,But im worried that i have done something i can’t reverse internally now.The time i took 23 was also with vodka and jose ceurvo,The next day i vomited some blood and had horrible pain in my lower back and around the sides…Thats when i started losing weight.I ahve not taking any in over a week…I cannot without getting sick,and i am worried now.And does being Anemic effect this in any way?

And i can say,When taking in high doses over a period of time,It does cause halucinations at the peak of the high,when your the most drowsy.

As for you’re brother sister,im sure he didnt suffer,I’m sorry you lost him,I know his pain…But im sure he felt an intense wave of drowsiness,And maybe he was shaking..But i dont feel he suffered. You do suffer more when you dont pull it off..and lay in bed shaking or the next day when your sick.

What then happened to you now? Have you been suffering still awful side effects like throwing up some blood, drowsiness, back pain, etc.? I think you should go to the hospital right now…or some irreversible damage might have been done..

suicide is NOT just a ‘little plea for attention’ you fucking retard those who attempt it obviously think this life sucks ass which it does for a lot of people in this world, and they know the afterlife is better. Everyone should commit suicide, who doesnt want the eternal peace & calm of death?

I would like to just let you know that my most recent suicide attempt was with Tylenol PM.. not because it was “little plea for attention” but because I knew exactly what tylenol can do to your liver. Unfortunately, I was found before any irreversible damage was done, but please don’t assume that anyone who takes tylenol is not trying to die.

Having life-long severe depression, I must say, numerous comments I have read on this forum disgusted me. Many of you are much too insensitive and naive to understand what a person attempting suicide, or even crying out for help, must be feeling. Instead of cruel, cold comments, try a little compassion.

Thanks to the folks who posted comments against the ‘little plea for attention’ comment. What a horrible thing to say, it’s just the type of thing that BLOCKS a severely stressed, depressed person (for whatever reason) from seeking any help at all BEFORE they get to the point of a suicide attempt. What kind of person would want to say such a thing.

Ok, I want to kill myself, because I have many “problems”, I am 17 years old, I am gay “dont want to be”, I am lonley as I have friends in school but not to go out or anyhting, I moved from another country were I had many many many “good friends” wich came out to be asswholes and forget me, I hate my life, I hate how I treat my mom, and I am a cool person honestly, people like me, But I am just sick of Everything, I was going to take tylenol pm, as I have to because of my sleeping disorder “effect of depression”, but after reading this, I do not know what to do!!!!!!

If one is compelled to commit suicide then that’s their right to do so. For the lucky ones who succeeded in dissolving their crappy lives to a completed suicide congrats to them! I’m one of the unlucky ones, a survivor. If you’re gonna make a successful exit from this life then you must make sure no one is going to find you passed out or witness you in the act. That is what happened to me after downing 15,000 MG’s of Tylenol. I passed out and a family member found me in the morning semi conscience. I ended up in the fucking ER, dealt with bitchy nurses and doctors, now I’ve got a liver that is scarred as I’ve been told. Oh, and the mandatory therapy that was forced on me was the biggest load of bullshit I ever witnessed. So where am I now? I will succeed at ending my life. Now that my liver is fucked it shouldn’t be too hard to shut myself down once and for all.

You sound like a heartless fucking cunt. No offense to cunts. Some people are either in constant mental r physical pain and the last thing w want is attention. You miserable cow, I hope you get there some day.

If they just legalized assisted suicide, people who are seriously maimed from survived suicide attempts that still want to die would not have to live or suffer from their permanent injuries, even if they don’t want to go through the pain of another do it yourself suicide attempt with out access to heavily regulated guns, drugs, or explosives, to which access is limited, that would make suicide less painful if they just legalized voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide. Then, a person, who, for example, has had his stomach and esophagus removed due to a suicide attempt and will die slowly from starvation if he just refuses continued treatment for his condition, could just ask to be euthanized and be injected w/ a lethal overdose of barbiturates or opiates and die nearly painlessly instead.

Attempting suicide, is not a “plea for attention”. When all things have simply gone downhill and you see there is no way to get back up. I attempted suicide for the 2nd time last February, swallowed down 27 Tylenol PM’s. Certainly was not a pleasant experience.

Archives

I Love to Play

Author

I am Gina. I have been a nurse for 15 years, first in med/surg, then CVICU, inpatient dialysis, CCU and now hospice. This blog is about my experiences as a nurse, and the experiences of others in the healthcare system - patients, nurses, doctors, paramedics. We all have stories!